


fluffball

by fuwaesthetic



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Ensemble Stars! Secret Santa, M/M, Post-Graduation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21955219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuwaesthetic/pseuds/fuwaesthetic
Summary: Leo is, without a doubt, very cute with cats. He turns into a different person entirely, although he can safely say that about most of his interactions in general. The Leo he gets to see in the quiet of their apartment; the Leo who takes the stage with the rest of his unit, and the Leo that drops the boastful act as soon as he steps off of it; the Leo who acts like a true knight for his younger sister, the Leo that twirls about and laughs about inspiration, the Leo that’s content to sit quietly in the same space as him, humming snatches of music that winds its way out of his pen onto any surface within reach, the Leo that complains about having to do anything special while, in the same breath, doing it anyway.The Leo that hangs onto the impossible lie they shared years ago in that hospital room, despite the painful rift, and the Leo that won’t forgive him, won’t say it’s okay, but will live with him, take meals with him, and call him over when he notices him idling awkwardly in the door.~~~for enstars secret santa 2019.
Relationships: Tenshouin Eichi/Tsukinaga Leo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	fluffball

**Author's Note:**

> aka, eichi and leo live together after graduation, adopt a cat, and keep up their semi-awkward feelings dance, because eichi is too stupid to realize where he stands with literally anyone in his life and we love him for it.
> 
> merry christmas and happy holidays, @amber_flicker! may the rest of the year find you well, and i hope the new decade is a real treat!

It isn’t uncommon to see cat hair around their shared apartment – Leo’s favorite Little John frequently comes through their nearly always open window (shut only when it gets colder to keep them from catching their deaths and monitored carefully for impatient fat cats before they can start scratching at the glass) – but it has never been this color or texture or 

(Eichi sneezes as he collects it)

 _fluffiness,_ for lack of a better term. It isn’t their usual cat company’s fur, that’s all, because she’s distinctly a short hair and grey, and while he won’t claim she never sheds, he can claim she never sheds anywhere that _isn’t_ his side of the room specifically. Little John is, for better or for worse, the wayward daughter of Leo Tsukinaga and Izumi Sena, and she seems to have inherited some level of petty grudge from the both of them. (Leo, of course, denies this claim, and Izumi holds that she’s just a cat, _Tenshouin,_ she doesn’t understand that kind of thing.) Regardless, while he’s not wholly unopposed to the idea of a fat, fluffy friend, some forewarning would be nice to have – and a good, thorough brushing, too. 

Leo makes a strangled, surprise noise when he comes through the door an hour after Eichi’s gone to look for their newest addition to the house; Eichi looks up, cat held in his arms and a hairbrush halfway through its fur, and he blinks when Leo drops the bags of groceries on the ground (those poor vegetables) and rushes over.

“Tenshi, you’re doin’ it all wrong! And that’s not even the right brush! It’s like you’ve never had a cat before.”

“I haven’t,” he replies a little dryly, and Leo sighs as if it’s the most depressing thing he’s heard all day. It might just be, depending on the conversations he’s had today, and Eichi hands the tomcat off to his more experienced housemate. Leo holds the cat like a baby, tutting softly, and steps around the mess he’s made without even having to watch his feet.

Eichi stares after him before he collects the fallen food and sets on putting it away. When he’s done, he follows the sound of cooing and peers into their shared abode – he nearly trips over Little John in the doorway, looking down with a stumbled apology to a cat who looks up at him with little love or care in her pretty little eyes, and leans against the frame to balance himself. Leo is, without a doubt, very cute with cats. He turns into a different person entirely, although he can safely say that about most of his interactions in general. The Leo he gets to see in the quiet of their apartment; the Leo who takes the stage with the rest of his unit, and the Leo that drops the boastful act as soon as he steps off of it; the Leo who acts like a true knight for his younger sister, the Leo that twirls about and laughs about inspiration, the Leo that’s content to sit quietly in the same space as him, humming snatches of music that winds its way out of his pen onto any surface within reach, the Leo that complains about having to do anything special while, in the same breath, doing it anyway.

The Leo that hangs onto the impossible lie they shared years ago in that hospital room, despite the painful rift, and the Leo that won’t forgive him, won’t say it’s okay, but will live with him, take meals with him, and call him over when he notices him idling awkwardly in the door. All of those Leos are the same Leo – the same Tsukinaga-kun he adores, has always treasured, even when he wasn’t sure how to – and Eichi’s heart thunders haplessly against his ribs when he steps over Little John, joins Leo on the bed, and has the warmth of his head tucked into his shoulder.

“This is the brush you use, and _this_ is how you use it. Got it, Tenshi?”

“Certainly,” even though he’s only paying half as much attention to it as he is to the way Leo’s fingers mess up freshly brushed fur right afterwards in unabashed affection. “Are we keeping him?”

He pauses, then corrects himself: “Can we keep him?”

Leo looks down at the cat, rubbing its stomach, and holds it up high. “Whatcha think, Little John?”

Ah, right. It wouldn’t be up to them. Eichi looks over at their resident nonresident, who doesn’t seem to care – or maybe he just isn’t as in tune to her as he should be, because Leo frowns and waves their potential adoptee very gently.

“He’s fine! Look at him! He looks sooo lazy, he’s not gonna get in your way!”

Eichi hopes he also isn’t going to get in her, to be crass. Ah, if Keito could only hear his thoughts now… he would certainly blame Leo for such wording. He jumps a little when Leo shoves the orange cat at him; it’s a little awkward to adjust his hold on it, and by the time he manages to do so, Leo’s knelt down by Little John, petting her from tip to tail. He can only hear a little bit of their conversation, or rather, the side he can actually understand, and he picks up the brush to continue where Leo left off on their fluffball, mimicking the measures strokes and pushing out the fur from the brush when it begins to clump. Leo flops against him without warning, startling him from his very concentration-heavy task.

“She says he can stay as long as she gets fed first,” Leo says very seriously. Eichi hums a short note, turning the cat in his lap around to brush the rest of him.

“And if she isn’t around then, Tsukinaga-kun?”

Leo watches her, leaning up closer to his ear to drop his voice to something quieter. “Then she doesn’t know we aren’t putting her food out first.”

Eichi nods just as seriously as Leo manages to sound, and he flinches when their fuzzy orange friend decides it’s had enough of being handled and sinks its claws into the back of his hand. He lets go of it, nursing the injury, and startles just a bit when Leo takes his hand and inspects it. The wound is shallow, small beads of blood welling to the surface, and he’s about to tell Leo not to worry about it - it’s only a flesh wound - when Leo licks him.

The noise he makes, to be frank, is undignified and normally something Leo’d capitalize on making fun of him for, but he’s left alone with the two cats (familiarizing themselves with one another) while his housemate goes to get some antiseptic and a plaster. The spray stings just a bit, and the plaster feels awkward in its placement, and after Leo smooths it over with his thumb he leans down to kiss it. Eichi’s face warms, and he can’t stop the smile that spreads over his face or the chuckle slips from between his lips at an action so characteristically big brotherly, so thoughtless done regardless of who it was being done to.

“How kind of you, Sir Tsukinaga-kun.”

Leo’s face scrunches in confusion and then turns red in realization; he laughs too loudly, spinning off the couch and clamoring over to their cats to scoop them up, mentioning off-hand something about getting them a treat for not messing with one another – a show of bravado that used to be convincing before they began living together. Eichi relaxes into the couch, fighting against laughter that threatens to steal his breath away, the way it used to do.


End file.
